Westover students serve environmental science internships in Canadian wilderness

Westover students Selana Kurutan and Grace Arents (second and third from left) assisting two of the college students gathering data for a research project on brook trout populations. Contributed

For the second summer in a row, two Westover School students found themselves deep in the wilderness of Quebec, Canada, taking part in a junior internship program. They spent their time at the Kenauk Institute assisting college students conducting research in the region’s old-growth forest environments while experiencing both the beauty and the challenges of the remote setting.

Both Grace Arents, a member of the Class of 2020 from Sarasota, Florida, and Selana Kurutan, a member of the Class of 2022 from Middlebury, said their time at the Kenauk Institute only deepened their hope to pursue the sciences at Westover and beyond. “This experience helped to solidify my interest in conservation biology and fieldwork-type scientific research,” Arents said, “which I hope to continue in college.”

Kurutan agreed. “This experience will definitely help me decide what I want to do in college,” she said. “I have always been interested in the sciences, and this trip will help me choose which branch I want to specialize in, and whether or not I want to go to a research college.”

The Kenauk Institute is a center for ecological studies on 66,000 acres, with more than 60 lakes, forests, and a variety of plant life and animal species. A permanent research establishment was created at Kenauk “to establish a baseline inventory of biodiversity and monitor the property with a 100-year time horizon,” according to the institute’s website. “With time, Kenauk will become a laboratory for monitoring climate change and human Impacts.”

Both Arents and Kurutan are looking forward to sharing their experiences as Kenauk junior interns with their peers at Westover. Kurutan hopes to offer “the knowledge I have learned from the research projects the interns were completing, as well as knowledge of what it is like to participate in field work in the Canadian wilderness.” Already a student volunteer for environmental and sustainability programs at Westover, Arents said her internship has only deepened her sense of commitment. “I hope to bring to Westover a better understanding of the importance of sustainability in all aspects of life,” she said.

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